Peonies 1915

Charles Courtney Curran made this painting, Peonies, with oil. I love that the brushwork is loose but descriptive; it's like Curran is having a conversation with the paint. You can see he's not trying to hide the process, he's embracing it. Looking closely, especially at the flowers, you see thick dabs of paint that give them a real texture. It’s like you could almost reach out and touch the petals. The way he layers the colors, particularly in the girl’s hair, gives the painting a certain luminosity, a glow. There’s this one pink peony, nestled among the whites and yellows, and it just pops, drawing your eye right in. This piece reminds me a little of John Singer Sargent's portraits, there's the same kind of effortless capturing of light and beauty. But Curran has his own thing going on, a more intimate feel. It is a painting that invites you to linger, to get lost in its details, and maybe, just maybe, to find a little bit of yourself in its delicate beauty.